Ku-ring-gai Heritage Conservation Areas North Inventory Sheet

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Ku-ring-gai Heritage Conservation Areas North Inventory Sheet Historical Summary the eastern border extending to the borders of Robert Pymble’s grant. In 1876 the estate, known as The Big Island estate, was subdivided into large portions by a syndicate of politicians and businessmen, Burdett Smith, Burns and Withers. The boundaries of this first subdivision laid down the pattern of Wahroonga as it is now known, and a map showing the plan of roads in 1889 denotes the roads formed at that time and marks the boundaries of the portions. These roads were Boundary, Great Eastern (now Eastern), Burns, Billyard and Smith (now Bangalla) Roads. At the time of the subdivision of The Big Island estate, some lots were bought separately to the major holdings. One of these became known as ‘Noonan’s Paddock’ after its owner. Patrick Noonan occupied the lot now bounded by Stuart, Coonanbarra, Illoura and spanning what was later to be the railway station. At the time of the second survey for the railway line (1883) there was little development shown in the central Wahroonga area. Noonan’s block and an adjacent block to the north were the only ones occupied at that time. In 1878 the largest of the portions created by the 1876 subdivision was itself subdivided (DP 503). This was the Vanceville Estate, bordered by Great Eastern (now Eastern) Road, Burns Road, a line south of and parallel to Cleveland and with cross streets Hastings, Smith (later Bangalla), Gordon Lane (later Chilton), and Billyard Avenue. Forty-one blocks, varying in size between one and seven acres (0.4-2.8ha), were sold to orchardists and market gardeners. The road pattern within the area results from this early subdivision history of The Big Island and Vanceville estates, and Noonan’s block remained open space and later became Wahroonga Park. Post 1890 When the railway line was built (completed 1890), the line ran through Noonan’s Paddock, and the station at Wahroonga was initially known (and shown on maps) as “Noonan’s Platform”. The Upper North Shore was no longer perceived as a rural area for orchardists and market gardeners, but as a healthy and desirable place to live. Between 1891 and 1897, the remaining portions of The Big Island were subdivided, with streets forming a regular grid pattern, with other estates being offered after a two-year period. The pattern of land release was as follows: Wahroonga Estate between Woonona and Coonanbarra 1891, 1893, 1895, 1897; Bundarra Estate (north of the HCA) 1892, 1893; Wahroonga Heights Estate from Burns to Boundary, north to Woonona and east to Eastern Road, and with another section spanning Cleveland in 1893, 1895, 1897. This estate was released in several sections, with the first spanning Cleveland Road as DP 2943. At the same time orcharding lots in the former Vanceville Estate were further subdivided for residential lots. A characteristic of most of the residential lots in the Wahroonga area was the size of the lots: they were large, one to three acres (0.4-1.2ha) in size and were designed for politicians, business and professional men. George Collingridge, a resident of Hornsby, prepared an 1897 map of Wahroonga to illustrate his magazine Progress: An Illustrated Journal and Magazine. Although lands through to Boundary Road were fully subdivided by 1897, and although there were individual large homes facing Grosvenor, Junction and Kintore Streets, the concentration of development in the early years of the twentieth century occurred south of Burns Road (within HCA 27). These first residences were described as palatial, planted with magnificent gardens. Other lots of The Big Island held by individuals were independently subdivided, such as The Wahroonga Station Estate with lots fronting Coonanbarra and Railway Avenue, subdivided in 1910, and Barnes Estate east of Illoura Avenue. HCA28 and HCA28A are both wholly within the Wahroonga Heights Estate subdivided 1893, 1895 and 1897. Wahroonga had a strong Presbyterian presence, and many street names reflect Scottish origins (Burns, Braeside, Stuart, Lochville). The first Wahroonga complex of shops in Coonanbarra Road was established in 1895 (designed by John Sulman) and consisted of George Boyne’s Railway Stores and McKye’s Bakery. An amusement hall also opened in Coonanbarra Road in 1896. The hall was bought by the Presbyterian community in 1898 and became known as the Wahroonga Presbyterian Hall. The foundation of St Johns Presbyterian (now Uniting) Church was laid in 1929, and services began in 1930. The Gillespie family of Wahroonga and Warrawee were major benefactors of the Presbyterian Church, initially lending the purchase price of the hall, and remaining KU-RING-GAI HERITAGE CONSERVATION AREAS NORTH INVENTORY
Ku-ring-gai Heritage Conservation Areas North Inventory Sheet long-term benefactors of Knox Grammar School. St. Andrew’s Anglican Church was established on the corner of Cleveland and Water Streets in 1904, followed by a new church in 1936; Wahroonga Methodist Church (now Ku-ring-gai Presbyterian Church) opened in 1916, and Catholic services began at a house Greenmeadows, in Billyard Avenue in 1948, with services moved to the new Holy Name Church and Priory in 1954. The work of the Wahroonga Progress Association formed in 1895 (eleven years prior to the formation of the local Council) was a major influence on the developing character of the suburb. The association performed many functions later taken over by local government: property valuation, forming and improvement of roads and pathways, avenue plantings of trees, securing parkland, positioning of street lights, erecting turnstiles and footbridges, advising on water supply, postal, telephone and rail services. The Wahroonga Progress Association lobbied for the establishment of Wahroonga Park on the remaining portion of Noonan’s Paddock, owned by John Sulman. The association, by 1925 renamed the Wahroonga Community Service Association, landscaped the park with plants, labour and maintenance donated by its members. Educational institutions operated in the area from 1897, those still remaining being Prouille Catholic Primary School at 3-5 Water Street, near Cleveland Street, established by Dominican Sisters in 1950, associated with the Holy Name church at 35 Billyard Avenue; Wahroonga Public School “The Bush School” at 71 Burns Road, established in 1944 and officially opened by Mrs Evatt, the wife of Clive Evatt; St John’s Uniting Church Wahroonga Preparatory school, established in 1926 and located behind the church at 61 Coonanbarra Road (corner Cleveland Street) in a modern building; St Edmund’s School, including the house “Midhope”, at 60 Burns Road, corner Wahroonga Avenue, established by the Christian Brothers in 1950s, originally as a school for blind boys, now catering to children with a range of special needs; Knox Grammar Preparatory School at 1-3 Billyard Avenue, which includes Innisfail House (later renamed Ewan House) built in 1896 for John Thomas Toohey, and purchased in 1928 for the Knox Grammar Preparatory School; 15 Cleveland Street, (part of Knox Preparatory School); and St. Lucy’s School at 21-23 Cleveland Street, established in 1938, originally in Homebush by the Dominican Sisters as a school for blind children, and moved to Wahroonga in 1959, which now caters for children with a range of disabilities. Large homes were taken over by institutions in the mid 20th century including Rippon Grange (1890s) in Water Street, which became the John Williams Memorial Hospital in 1951, in 1980 being taken over by the Hornsby & Ku-ring-gai District Hospital for disability services; Redleaf, (1897) in Redleaf Avenue used as a convalescent hospital 1946-1948; Greystanes the 1894 Pockley Home at 49 Burns Road became the Mt Alverna Franciscan retreat from 1951-1987; and Berith Park (1909) at 19 Billyard Avenue was occupied by Dominican Sisters 1957-1979, and the c. 1910 Federation Queen Anne style house at 134 Eastern Road (now 1 Glenwood Close), which was the Patrician Brothers Training College until recent years. All of these houses except Rippon Grange have since reverted to private residential use. After World War 1 some of the larger residential estates began to be subdivided. The original estate home was often retained on one block of an acre or so (0.4ha), with an access driveway, surrounded by smaller lots offered for sale. This has resulted in a pattern of battleaxe allotments, often with earlier, significant houses. An example of such subdivisions of this period is the Rippon Grange subdivision of 1922 with formed new lots extending from Water Street through to Billyard Avenue. The house at 134 Eastern Road/1 Glenwood Close is part of a new residential subdivision. Today there is considerable evidence of the work of the Wahroonga Progress Association including formal avenues of street trees in Burns Road and Water Street, the layout of Wahroonga Park, the pattern of pedestrian pathways through blocks. The area has gently sloping streets and informal street tree plantings in most streets with some exceptions such as Burns Road and Water Street with formal avenues of London Plane or brush box trees. The area is characterised by large lots and a high concentration of large, heritage-listed houses (some now within school or institutional sites), and with many schools and churches within the area. Subdivision and re-subdivision has resulted in a high degree of irregularity in lot sizes, however KU-RING-GAI HERITAGE CONSERVATION AREAS NORTH INVENTORY
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Ku-ring-gai Heritage Conservation Areas North Inventory Sheet

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